Falling Up
by Betwixt and In-Between
Summary: Life for a mutant is hard, but when a young girl's appearance is altered and she is invited to live at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters,her life becomes as strange as falling up. OCx?
1. Chapter 1: A Mother's Love

Hello, everyone! This is my first fan-fic on this site, and I'm nervous on how it'll turn out. I actually thought of this story while I was daydreaming in Global History. Funnily enough, some of my greatest ideas are thought of while I'm daydreaming during school. Because of this, I usually write my chapters during my classes, which is why I'm on the brink of failing Geometry *sweatdrops*. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! R&R

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**Chapter 1 - A Mother's Love**

"Evie, are you alright in there? You've been in there for over an hour. Are you sick? Do you want me to call the doctor's office?"

"No, Mom, I'm fine. Don't call Dr. Richardson." It was bad enough that my mom was going to have to find out , but having Dr. Richardson see me like this would be about as bad as signing my own death warrant. He had never been ashamed to show how much he hated mutants, and would probably convince my mom that the only reasonable and right thing to do would be to give me up for a mercy killing, so that I wouldn't have to live with my sinful nature. I shuddered at the idea of my neighbors and classmates standing outside of my apartment door, holding torches and sharp gardening tools, knowing that that was _exactly_ what they would do if they found out.

I was scared to find out how my mother would react when she found out, because I honestly didn't know what her reaction would be. She, also, had always hated mutants openly, telling me that everything bad was somehow connected to "those freaks". Obviously I had tried to convince her otherwise several times, since that was completely absurd, but she couldn't be budged from her opinion. But she loved me, I knew she did, as she seemed to remind me every chance she could get. We lived together in a small apartment in Floral Park, a small town on the outskirts of New York City, just the two of us after my dad had died a few years ago from a heart attack. She always hugged me and kissed my forehead, and told me that she loved me several times a day. I had a feeling that she was giving me the affection that she used to give my dad, as if I was a fill-in for him, since I used to look like him. I never complained though, because I knew that she just missed him more than anyone could see. Would she really hate me for something I had no control over, after she had loved me for so long? Or would she hate me like the others would because I didn't look like my father anymore?

I was about to find out.

"You're scaring me, Evie. I don't want to, but I'll pick the lock if you don't tell me what's going on in ten seconds."

It's over, she's gonna find out. After hiding it for over seven years, she was going to find out what I was. It was easy to hide it before, but now, with the way I looked, there wasn't anything I could do hide it. I could never be my normal self in public again, I'd have to remain as hidden as I could. I could feel tears come to my eyes as I realized how hard life had just gotten for me.

"Mom…" My voice was shaky now. I could only imagine how scared she must be, wondering what was wrong with her daughter that was making me act like this. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost. When she was at risk at being rejected by most of society like I am now, then I would feel sorry for her. She can handle this by herself, she was a big girl now.

Alright , deep breath, let's get this over with. I slowly reached out to the door knob and unlocked it. As soon as I heard the click of the knob, the door was flung open by my mother, who probably wanted to make sure I didn't try to lock myself in again. Our eyes locked, and I saw her eyes grow wide as she stared me down. Quick, before she could say anything, I had to explain. I wasn't able to though, because as I opened my mouth, she started to scream at me.

"How could you do this to me, Evie! Haven't I lost enough family already? Tell me those are just tattoos, _please_! Oh God, what have I done to deserve this?"

Anger flickered within me at her words. How could _I_ do this? Was she really thick enough to think that I wanted to look like this? Thick, black lines twisted and curved all over my body, and would probably look like tattoos from a distance, but up close anyone could see that the edges seemed to run, like wet ink under my skin. Had I seen someone like this in a painting, I would have thought that it was beautiful, like an intricate design on skin instead of paper. But it wasn't in a painting, it was on me, and it was pretty much a neon sign that says "I'm a mutant" to everyone else. If my skin wasn't enough, my long, straight, raven-black hair now had blaring red highlights, and my once brown-colored eyes were now a cerulean blue, with a ring of electric yellow around the pupil that looked almost like a ring of lightning.

I wanted to yell at her for being so dumb, but I decided that the outcome would be even more unpleasant if she thought I was becoming violent and aggressive. I took another deep breath to calm myself down, and then put up a hand to stop my mother's ranting.

"Mom, it's not like you lost me. I'm still Evie, I just look different. I'm still the same person I was last year, and the year before that." That was a lie; I had changed a lot since I had realized my mutation, becoming more secretive and self-reliant, but she didn't need to here that right now. "I'm still your little girl. Please Mom, it's just me."

Tears were now streaming down her face, and she had put her hand over her mouth to try to muffle her sobs. As angry as I was with her, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness for her. She was my mother after all, the one who had raised me and held me when I was scared and upset. I didn't feel sorry for her, and I was angry about how she was reacting, but I wasn't completely heartless. Slowly I reached out a hand to give her shoulder a gentle squeeze, to let her know that it would be alright. As soon as my hand touched her, she flinched violently away from me, as if I had sent a strong current of electricity through her.

"D-Don't touch me. You're a freak, a mutant! My daughter is dead!"

Her voice was barely a whisper now, but I had heard her every word loud and clear. I had known before that rejection was a very real possibility, so I had tried to prepare myself for it if it happened. I realize now that nothing could have prepared me for this kind of hurt. My heart stung, and I felt like I was being suffocated, like something was pressing down on my chest. Did she really hate mutants so much that I was now dead to her? Didn't our memories together mean anything anymore? Apparently not to her. Fine then. I wouldn't show her my tears, she needed to understand that I was strong without her. I kept my face neutral, and my voice became calm and even, unemotional.

"Alright then, Sara, what do you plan on doing now? Are you going to call Dr. Richardson and send a mob after me?"

She looked at me with shock clearly written on her face. She was probably surprised that I was now so business-like now, as I had never talked to her in this manner before. Or maybe it was because I was now treating her like a stranger right after I had been calling her "Mom".

"No, I wouldn't do that to you."

Now it was my turn to be shocked. Wasn't she just telling me that I was dead to her?

"Why? Not that I'm ungrateful, but…"

"I do hate mutants, they shouldn't exist, but you know that I oppose violence of any kind. Giving anyone over to Dr. Richardson… well, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. No one should have to suffer his wraith."

Wow, that was unexpected.

"So then what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to work. I'll be back around four. I expect you to be gone by then."

I stood there in shock as she walked away towards the front door, wiping her tears away. Was she serious?

"Where am I supposed to go!?" I cried after her.

She opened the door, and before she left, she said, "That's not my problem anymore."

And then she was gone.


	2. Chapter 2: Going Numb

Hi everyone! I felt so special when I finally found my Story Stats and saw that people were putting my story on their alert, even favoring it! Super-mega-ultra thanks to Lokiru, who gave me my first ever Review, and made me feel bubbly inside. Lokiru, you deserve a cookie. This chapter is slightly violent with language and …. I guess you would call it mutant-ism. You have been warned. Have fun!

Chapter 2- Going Numb

It's been almost three months since my mom kicked me out, and just like I predicted, everything went downhill from there.

After she had left me, I had dumped my messanger bag of all of my school stuff and packed it with jeans, long-sleeved shirts, hoodies, anything that covered my skin, along with extra undergarments. If it had been summertime, I would have been screwed, but it was early September when I had left, when it was starting to cool down, so at least I didn't have to worry about dying from heatstroke. Once the bag was filled to capacity, I had gone to the kitchen to get the money my mom had stashed in a "secret" compartment in one of the drawers. If she had known that I had knew about it, she probably wouldn't have left me alone in the apartment. I took almost $600, and surprisingly didn't feel guilty like I thought I would. Probably because I knew she would take all of the money out of my bank account and put it to "good" use- like buying a new apartment . After that I snuck on a train and left for the infamous New York City, where it was a bit easier to live on the streets with cheap motels and soup kitchens.

Now it was late November, the day after Thanksgiving, and I had just been kicked out of another sleazy motel. The owner had been reasonably nice, allowing me to stay as long as I could pay for my cheap room, but he had been forced to kick me out when some of the other tenants threatened to tell some anti-gang that he was helping me, a mutant out. Nice to see how understanding some people are, huh? I guess I would have done the same thing as him if my life was on the line, but I was still pretty pissed, especially since it was freezing outside with snow everywhere. Yeah, that's right- snow, and it's not even a little dusting, either; it's knee-deep, thick, freezing snow. Just my luck, right?

As I shuffled through the snow with my head bent down to shadow my face with my hood, I wondered what I should do next. I should try to find a place to stay for the night, since it was pretty late, but my stomach seemed to be roaring in protest, since I hadn't eaten yet today. I guess I could find a convenience store before I looked for a mote, since most of the soup kitchens closed at eleven.

After walking for a couple of minutes, I finally spotted a convenience store. It looked like it was falling apart, which was good for me, since poor businesses would usually take any money they could get, regardless of who the customer was. As I crossed the street, I tugged on my black beanie and hood, making sure that I was as covered as I could be without looking like I was about to rob the place. I also quickly touched the back of my neck with my fingertips (which were the only other parts of me besides my face that were exposed, since I was wearing fingerless gloves) to check if any of my hair was peaking out of my hat. I thought that if people thought that I was a guy, they might leave me alone, since guys are usually tougher and more violent than girls. I was good to go.

A small bell rings as I open the door. Just like I thought, this place was down in the dumps, dirty and dusty. The old man behind the counter seemed to fit right in, with his hair and skin looking just as oily as the hot dogs in the vendor in the back. He stared at me as I walked past him, but I ignored him, hoping that he would get the idea to just leave me alone. As I grabbed a couple of things, I could see the old man dialing someone on the phone out of the corner of my eye. Maybe I was just paranoid, but I couldn't help but feel that this wouldn't be good for me. I readjusted my hood, and then walked up to the front to pay for my things, and then get the hell away from here. Placing my items on the counter, I fished my my wallet out of one of the many pockets in my black cargo jeans.

"That will be $22.00." What? There was no way that that could be the price, I had made sure that everything I bought would be under $10.

"I'm sorry, sir, but that has to be a mistake- there's no way that the total is $22.00, it should be $8.54." I spoke with the same un-emotional, business-like voice I had used on my mother, but I was boiling inside. We both knew that the price was wrong-because I was a mutant, he was giving me the "mutant tax", which was usually just an extra couple of dollars more then the total. I had dealt with it before, but this was just ridiculous.

"you should be grateful that I'm letting you buy anything at all, you freak." He gave me a sick smile, showing off his chipped, yellow teeth, knowing that he was right.

Pissed off and annoyed, I grabbed a $20 out of my worn out wallet and slammed it on the counter. "Here, you cheap bastard. You're lucky I'm tired, or else there would have been hell to pay." I honestly wouldn't have done anything to him, since I didn't want to be like the mutants everyone was scared of, but seeing the small flicker of fear in his eyes gave me a little satisfaction, and made me feel better. I grabbed my things off the counter, and was about to walk away when the man grabbed me by the wrist, _hard_. I winced, and knew that I was going to have a bruise there tomorrow. "Let me go, sir. I don't want any trouble."

"I don't really care what you want, you freak. You should have thought of that before you walked through my door." His sick smile seemed to become malicious, and I became nervous as his small, beady eyes flickered back and forth between me and the front window. I looked over to the front window as well, and my eyes widened as I saw several tough-looking guys piling out of a green Hummer and heading towards the front door. "_Not good, not good, not good!" _I screamed in my head. Dropping the food, I was now frantically thrashing away from the man's iron grip, desperate to get away.

"Please let me go, I promise I won't come back here, please!" I knew that fear was now evident in my voice, but I didn't care. As soon as he let's go, I'll be able to get out of here, just-

The bell from the door rang out like a death sentence, and I thrashed harder still.

"This freak just threatened me, boys. I'll trust you take care of it."

Strong hands gripped my shoulders from behind, and I froze in fear as the grip tightened.

"Don't worry," I heard a deep voice say from behind me, "we'll take care of this… problem."

"Thank you, boys," the man smirked as he released my wrist. No, no, no, this couldn't be happeneing! I couldn't get away if this asshole was holding me!

"No, thank _you_," some other guy behind me said, "we were getting bored."

I started to thrash around wildly again as the man pushed me outside and led me towards the alley next to the store. Before I could scream for help, a dirty, calloused hand smothered my momuth and nose. Were they trying to suffocate me to death?! I couldn't breathe! My hands pulled and scratched at the man's hands as my eyesight began to get blurry. I could hear him laughing, and it sent shivers down my spine. Enough was enough; if I didn't do anything soon, I was going to die. With as much fore as I could muster, I bit down on his hand, and almost instantly tasted a metallic, sharp taste in my mouth. The man shouted in pain and surprise, loosening his grip on me, but still not letting me go. I bit down harder, even though it felt like my teeth were about to crack, hoping that he'd let me go to stop his pain.

Instead, I felt my head snap forward after someone had punched me in the back of the head. The man dropped me, letting me hit the snow. It was exactly what I wanted; no one was touching me, I could escape! But as soon as I moved my head, my world spinned before me, and the lights seemed to have dimmed. That blow to the head was harder than I thought, as I could feel something warm slowly sliding down my neck.

Above me, the man who had been bitten was cursing and shouting angrily, and I knew that if I didn't get out of there soon, then this would not end well for me. Ignoring my topsy-turvy eyesight, I crawled forward on my hands and knees towards the light that I was pretty sure was the streetlamp outside of the alley. If I could get into the public eye, surely these men wouldn't kill me… right? Come on, Evie, just a little-

A sharp pain radiated from my ribs as a different man gave me a swift, strong kick, effectively flipping me onto my back.

"Where the hell do you think you're going, you little son of a bitch?!" The man who was yelling at me picked me up by the front of my hoodie, and stood me up in front of me. I swayed slightly as I backed away and hugged one of my arms to my ribcage, trying to protect it from further damage. As my eyesight began to right itself, I saw a fist flying towards my face, and then everything began to spin once again as my body slammed into the brick wall behind me. My head and torso were throbbing, and I knew that if I made it out of this alive, tomorrow would be one hell of a wakeup call.

I was about to fall to my knees when two more guys grabbed me and held me up by my arms, making sure that I couldn't squirm away. I coiuld see that somewhere in front of me, the guy who had kicked and punched me was now cracking his knuckles and rollin' his shoulders, prepping himself for a great one-sided brawl. I tensed my muscles, because I had heard once that it hurt less when your muscles were tense… I think. Or did it make it hurt more?

The man's fists flew, and I closed my eyes and groaned as my body kept jerkin g backwards with the force of the blows. The only thing that was going through my head (besides "ow") was "Thankfully it's cold out; At least I'm becoming numb."

I didn't know how long I had been playing the part of human punching bag, but I could tell that I was slowly slipping away from reality and into unconsciousness. When I had dared to open my eyes before, the world no longer spun, but it had become dramatically dimmer, the lights form the streetlamp s seemed to be dying like a flashlight. When he sometimes went for my face instead of my stomach, their shouts of hatred and anger slowly turned into a steady hum with each hit, and now even the hum was fading away. My breathing was ragged, probably from broken ribs, but I felt no pain now. I wasn't gonna make it, this was it. Tears slowly trailed down my face, mingling with my blood, and I waited for the next punch to come.

But nothing came. Instead, I was released from the thugs' grip on me, and I fell down to the snowy ground. I couldn't bring myself to move from where I laid on my back, I was too tired. All I could manage to do was open my eyes tot try to see what they were doing.

I couldn't see anyone, I could only stare up the starless night sky. Everything was silent, not even the humming remained. Maybe… it was over. I couldn't feel anything, could not hear, could not see anyone. Was this what it was like to be dead? Was I dead?

Slowly, my heavy eyelids began to close, and I could feel myself letting everything go. I might have been delusional, but I thought I could see an angel flying overhead as my eyes closed, swooping down towards me. I gave a small smile, and then I fell into darkness.


	3. Chapter 3: Second Chances

Hi! It's been so long, Gomen! I have had major writer's block about this story, and although I've had this chapter done for a while now, it's my general rule not to upload anything until after the next chapter is completed. I will normally stick to that rule, but since **X-Men Origins **is coming out tomorrow, I decided to honor the day by releasing this early! I'm so excited, I've already gotten tickets to see three shows this weekend, the first being tomorrow morning since my school was closed for the Swine Flu epidemic. Anyway, because I've abandoned my rule for this chapter, don't expect another chapter anytime soon. Any advice on how to kill writer's block would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, and enjoy!

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Chapter 3: Second Chances

There was no way I could be dead; my body ached too much for me to be in Heaven. Unless I had somehow wound up in Hell. Geez, I hope not- that would really piss me off.

I cold hear a beeping noise every couple of seconds, which was starting to annoy me, but assured me that at least some of my hearing was back, which was always a good thing. Slowly I opened my eyes, and winced slightly as the bright lights assaulted me all at once. My eyes adjusted, and once again I was thankful for the return of yet another one of my senses.

Where was I? The last thing I could remember was passing out in that ally with a hallucination of an angel above me. Had someone found me dying outside in the snow and had taken me to a hospital? Or had I unconsciously just ended up here? I didn't think that the later of the two ideas was possible, as I had been much too weak to go anywhere, so I was going to go with the first option, although that didn't make much sense to me either as most people were probably too scared to approach me, let alone help me out and take me o the hospital. Was this even a hospital at all? Don't they normally put a hospital gown on you when your in a crappy state like me? I was still wearing all of my clothes from before, including my beanie. What was going on?

I looked around as much as I could without moving my neck too much, as it was very sore, and I saw that it looked like I was in a lab. Adrenaline pumped through me as my panic and fear heightened. I was not going to be an experiment! I wasn't going to die, not now!

Ignoring sharp stabs of pain in my ribs, I quickly sat up and began to yank out different needles that had been under my skin, wincing as I did so with less care than I should have done so. I pulled what looked like a fancy clothes' pin off my finger, and I knew I had made a mistake when the strobe-like beeping from before became a constant drone, flatlining. No doubt someone would come rushing in now, concerned that their lab rat had died on them. I had to get out of here, _now_. That was harder said then done, as I collapsed after only a couple of steps.

As I tried to work up enough energy to escape, the doors in front of me slid open with a small _whoosh, _and I was pretty sure that I looked like a deer caught in the headlights when I saw who was standing there. The first word that came to my mind when I saw him was 'predator', because even though I had never seen him before, I could tell that he was strong, smart, and when he wanted to be, lethal.

Wearing jeans and a white wifebeater, his arms looked extremely strong and defined. His hair was a dark brown, and on someone else I would think that his hair style would look ridiculous, but on him it looked good. His eyes looked slightly frantic at the moment, probably because he thought I was dead, but I could see an almost wild look behind the concern, something that I guessed was always there no matter how he was feeling. He was probably in his early-to-mid-thirties, and, even though I usually wasn't into older guys, it was hard to ignore that he was handsome.

I saw panic flash across his face when he saw that I was no longer in the bed, and I hoped for a moment that maybe he would run out of the room to go tell someone, leaving me the opportunity to escape. But then he looked my way, and our eyes locked for a second before he started walking towards me slowly, and I couldn't bring myself to move away.

"Listen, kid, calm down a sec. I ain't gonna hurt ya." His voice was rough and deep, but even though he looked and sounded like he could be dangerous, I was pretty sure that he was telling me the truth when he said he wasn't going to hurt me. I gave him a small nod to let him know that I believed him as he continued to come closer. Now he was maybe three feet away, and he kneeled so that we were eye to eye with each other. His hand reached out to me, and even though I believed he wouldn't hurt me, he was still much too close for comfort. I didn't have a lot of energy, but I probably had enough to get back a couple of feet.

So right before he managed to grab my hand, I flashed back and landed against a wall, leaving a good ten feet in-between us. For a moment, I was proud of how far I had managed to flash with such little energy, having thought before that I wouldn't had been able to flash half the distance I did, but then the pain seemed to come back ten-fold, and my accomplishment was quickly forgotten as I doubled over and gasped in agony. Pain now radiated from my upper-torso, which seemed to throb along to the beat of my now racing heart. My flash backwards away from the man had been more rough than other ones before it, probably due to my lack of energy, and probably jostled my injuries, leaving me unable to do anything but to gasp and cry in pain on the floor.

The man swore as he got up and ran towards me. He knelt down and, in a surprisingly gentile way, picked me up and carried me back to the bed. As he lied me down, over the sound of my own gasps for breath, I could hear the _whoosh_ of the door again, and then heard several footsteps.

"Logan, what happened? Charles sensed the heart monitor flatline."

Another deep voice, but this one seemed more articulate, more… regal somehow. This new voice had named the gentile predator Logan; now who was this?

Suddenly another face was in my line of sight, and I felt a mixture of surprise and safety within me at the same time. He was big, taller than Logan and with broader shoulders. From what I could see, he wore a white button-down shirt, black dress pants, and a pair of reading glasses perched on his nose. I would have thought that he looked like a normal guy, except for two rather unusual traits.

He was _furry_.

And he was _blue_.

_Everywhere._

'A mutant!' I shouted in my head happily. A fellow mutant would not harm me, I was sure of it, especially since we both looked different from everyone else. I probably would have smiled if I wasn't still gasping for air.

"The kid's a teleporter. I found her on the floor, and I guess when I got too close for her liking, she teleported herself against the wall, and next thing I know she's gasping for air on the floor," Logan explained.

"What if her ribs punctured her lung when she moved? She could be drowning in her blood." Yet another voice was heard, this one feminine, firm, yet loving and concerned. Her words, although I wished otherwise, made sense to me. Broken ribs would explain this agonizing pain, and I had heard somewhere before, maybe on some crime scene show, that if your lungs were punctured, there was a possibility of blood flooding the lungs and drowning the victim. Was I drowning? Was I going to die here?

"Ororo, go get an oxygen mask, quickly. Logan, remove her hat." I could feel Logan slowly removing my black beanie as the blue man carefully lifted up the hem of my hoodie and then my shirt to inspect my ribs. I wondered if he would be able to find any bruises with all of my dark marks inking out most of my skin. My eyesight was beginning to go blurry, although I wasn't sure if that was because of my eyes tearing up or if it was because I was dying- maybe it was both-, so I couldn't see how the blue man reacted to the possible damage. I did, however, hear Logan swear again from behind me. "What's wrong?"

"The kid's hat is soaked with blood, Hank." I saw the blue blur, who I now knew was Hank, quickly walked out of my line of sight as he joined Logan, and heard him mutter darkly, although I couldn't make out what he was saying over my attempts to breathe. I felt like all of the oxygen had been sucked from the air, like I was indeed drowning. My lungs were on fire, in agony as they screamed for relief. My eyesight was blurry and spinning, and even though the lights overhead seemed to be glowing brighter than they had before, everything was dimming. I knew I wasn't going to last much longer, no matter what they did.

I could vaguely see a dark-skinned blur with white hair put a mask over my mouth. Maybe it was the oxygen mask, but still I could not breathe. This was it, it was over. My heartbeat began to slow dramatically, and my once desperate gasps for breath stopped all together. I closed my eyes, and the desperate shouts surrounding me faded away. The immense pain from before was now diminishing, and I would have been happy and relieved by the fact if I didn't know I was dying.

_Hold on for just a bit longer, Evie. There are a couple of people here who still want to meet you._

I was startled when I heard a friendly voice as clear as a bell in my mind, after all else had faded away into the darkness that now surrounded me. Who was that? And who was he talking about? Who wanted to meet me?

Suddenly all the pain came rushing back and hit me all at once. My eyes snapped open as I arched my back and gasped for breath once more. I almost cried out in relief when oxygen filled my lungs, instantly relieving the agony I had felt before. As I fell back to the bed, I realized that as soon as the wave of pain had come, it was gone, and besides feeling exhausted, I felt fine.

In front of me I saw Logan, Hank, and who I assumed was Ororo looking down at me, each with a different expression on their faces. The woman was smiling, and I was shocked to see tears in her eyes. What was wrong? She didn't know me personally, so she couldn't have been crying over me, right? Logan had a look of surprise on his face, his eyes seemed to be looking for an answer as he looked back and forth between me and his hand, which was now held in front of his face. I saw that his surprise turned into confusion quickly, and saw him mutter something to himself. His reaction confused me, but I really didn't care right now. Hank also looked confused, but happy at the same time as he smiled down at me. All three of them had relief obviously written across their faces.

"You gave us quite a scare, miss. I'm happy to see that you're alright now," Hank said.

As happy as I was to be alive, one question flew in a frenzy in my mind: _How?_


	4. Chapter 4: Roomies and Hoodies

**I am so sorry that I haven't updated in forever! Between knee surgery, final exams, Regents, and physical therapy, I've been super busy. Having writter's block doesn't help either. A few people have asked me what exactly Evie's powers are. They will eventually be explained, just not in this chapter. Also, because this story hasn't been planned out like it should be, I have just as much of an idea about what's gonna happen next as you readers do, which is to say, not a clue, so if you guys have any suggestions, let me know.**

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Chapter 4: Roomies and Hoodies

I was dreaming, I knew that much, but of what, I wasn't sure. Up seemed to be down, black was white, and everything seemed to be swirling around me faster than I could see, and yet everything seemed to be in slow motion. It was a good dream, though; at least until I started falling.

I woke up with a start, and placed a hand on my chest to try to calm my breathing. Geez, I hated that; I thought I was falling off of my bed or something. Wait… my bed? Since when did I have a bed?

I looked around as my heart rate returned to normal, and slowly remembered bits and pieces of what had happened last night. I had been in New York City, and I had been attacked… woke up in a strange room and had a panic attack… almost died… a weird voice in my head… and then I was okay. I remembered the blue, furry man had looked me over once again to make sure I was okay, and then a woman with snowy white hair taking me to this room. I think she had said something to me, but I couldn't remember… Dammit, what had she said?

"Oh good, you're up! We weren't sure if you'd be awake yet, with everything that happened yesterday." I almost did fall out of my bed then, having nearly been scared to death by someone who apparently didn't need to use doors to enter a room. "Oops, sorry," the girl said with a bashful expression as she walked forward, "I guess I should have knocked."

"It's alright, " I said as I once again had to calm my heart. "Just don't do it again anytime soon."

"No problem!"

The girl was very pretty, with long, straight brunette hair and a heart-shaped face. She looked to be about my age, maybe a little bit younger; it was hard to tell because she was more on the short side, probably around 5 foot 3 inches. She wore a regular pair of blue jeans, a grey zip up hoodie, and a worn-out pair of black converse. If I hadn't just seen her walk through the closed bedroom door, I would have thought that she was a normal teenager, like one of the kids at my old school.

"Well, since you're up, how about you get dressed and then we can go down to breakfast. You're clothes are over there; you can put them in your dresser later, and my clothes are in the closet; of course, if you need to hang anything up, don't hesitate to do so!"

It was only then that I looked around and saw that their was another bed on the opposite wall, and boy band posters hanging up around the room.

"This is your room? I'm sorry, I didn't realize, I don't want to be a bother-"

"Don't sweat it," she said with a wave of her hand. "It's our room now, that is if you choose to stay here, and it's not like I had the room to myself anyway. My roommate just moved out a month ago, and to be honest I was getting kinda lonely."

"Oh. Okay then, I guess," I said as I got out of bed and walked over to my duffle bag. I picked out a pair of my jeans, a purple-stripped long-sleeved shirt, a maroon-colored band hoodie, and my other pair of fingerless gloves.

"The bathroom's through this door," the girl said as she pointed to a second door in the room. "You can change in there, and then we can head down to breakfast. You can meet everyone properly then."

I nodded, and then went to go change out of yesterday's clothes, which had dried bloodstains all over them. Once I had taken my clothes off, I was shocked to see that there wasn't a single mark on me- well, besides the normal ones. All cuts were gone without so much as a scar, there was no swelling or even a bruise. It was as if nothing had even happened to me. I pondered this mystery for a while before quickly washing my bloodied hair out, changing into my clean clothes, and pulling my hood up, covering my face in shadows.

The girl was sitting on her bed and flipping through a magazine when I came out of the bathroom. She looked up at me, and I saw her give a small frown for a second before she stood and grabbed my hand, flashing me a smile as she tugged me though the still closed door and down the hall.

"You know, you don't have to hide yourself here. I mean, it's your choice, but looks don't really matter here. I know that it was probably really tough for you to just blend in with society, but you can just be yourself at the mansion. Believe me, you don't have to worry about it. I know everyone will love you just the way you are. Heck, I've only known you for a total of maybe 10 minutes and I already like you!"

I gave her a smile and slowly took my hood down. "Thanks… um, what's your name again?"

She promptly smacked herself on the forehead, and I gave a small giggle as she then rubbed herself were she had smacked herself too hard with a whimper. "I am so sorry, I can't believe I didn't tell you my name. You must have thought I was crazy or something. My name is Katherine, but everyone calls me Kitty."

"My name is Evana, but you can call me Evie."

"Right, okay then Evie! Here's the kitchen!" she said as we walked into a large room filled with at least twenty people sitting at the table eating breakfast. Without even thinking, I immediately pulled my hood back up, and then shot Kitty an apologetic and nervous glance. She gave me a sad smile of understanding, then grabbed my hand and led me to the island in the center of the kitchen where the food was laid out.

"We can eat over here today, if you want. Just make a plate and take a seat," she said as she took two paper plates from a pile and handed me one.

"Thanks, Kitty. I'm sorry if I'm being a bother to you," I said softly as I took the plate from her.

"You gotta stop worrying, Evie, or you're gonna make yourself crazy. Just relax; this is your home now, and everyone here will accept you like a real family should." Kitty spoke quietly and with a serious tone, which was different from the bubbly attitude she had displayed since I met her. Then again, I've only known her for maybe a half hour tops, so that's not saying much. Maybe she was always like this, and was only excited about a new roommate. I decided to take her advice and tried not to worry too much about anything as we filled our plates and took a seat at the end of the counter.

We had probably been eating for about ten minutes before I felt a hand land on my shoulder. I whirled my head around to see the lady from the night before staring down at me with a smile on her face.

"Good morning. I'm glad to see you're up; we weren't sure if you'd be joining us this morning after what happened last night." I gave a small glance at Kitty, and almost groaned when I saw a look on her face that seemed to say 'I didn't hear about this, and I want to know, so I'll find out whether or not you tell me later'… or something to that extent. I then turned myself around in my chair so that I was now facing the white-haired woman with creamy dark skin. "My name is Ororo Monroe, and I'm in charge of the school here."

"My name is Evana Brave, but Evie is fine." I didn't want to sound like an idiot, but I had no idea about what was going on, and I needed answers. "I'm sorry, but can you tell me where I am exactly?"

"Of course," Ororo said as she sat on the stool next to me. "This is Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. It's a school and sanctuary for mutants to live in. We find and invite young mutants here so that they can live and learn without the influence of human judgment, and for them to explore and control their mutation without having to fear hurting others or themselves."

"Really? That's incredible!" I said as I smiled widely. A home for mutants? A sanctuary? It sounded unbelievable, a dream, but here I was.

"Of course, only a few people outside of the past and present tenants actually know about the mansion," Kitty said from behind me. "It's better for us that we keep this place as secret as possible. We really don't need any mutant protestors making more trouble for us than they already do."

"I can understand that; but how much trouble can you guys have if this place is a secret?"

"Do you remember about a year ago, when the Golden Gate Bridge in California was destroyed by a couple of mutants?" Ororo asked.

"Yeah, it was all over the news; there was like a mutant war on that island, right? And in the end, the bad mutants lost and their leader was stripped of his mutation with that vaccine… I think."

"Something like that," Ororo said with a small smile.

"Guess who were the good guys?" Kitty asked with a very smug smirk on her lips. I stared at her with a blank expression for a second, trying to figure it out. Then it finally clicked, and I whirled to face Ororo with a probably shocked expression on my face.

"It was you guys? Are you kidding?!"

Ororo gave me a nod, and said, "Not only are we a school and sanctuary, but the older students and the teachers here form what we call the X-Men. The X-Men's goal is to try to use our mutations to help others, both mutant and human, when nothing can be done about it by regular means."

"That's amazing!" It really was; the idea of them saving lives and preventing disasters blew my mind. To be able to use your mutation in a way that helped save the world… well it sounded like something out of a comic book to me. How cool would that be, to be able to help people like a superhero?

"Actually, once we had established your power, we were going to ask you to train to become one of the X-Men. I think we could really use you on the team."

… Did I hear her right? Was I still dreaming? She wanted me, Evie Brave, the girl who couldn't even help herself half the time, join the X-Men?

"I'm sorry, but I really don't think I'm 'hero' material. I couldn't even defend myself last night, so how would I be able to help others?"

"Evie, what happened last night wasn't your fault, you know. And we would train you to become what you call 'hero' material. Once you've been trained, you have the potential to do almost anything I think." I must have had a doubtful look on my face, because Ororo then added, "Tell you what; How about after you're settled in here, we'll train you to become an X-Men. When you're done with training, and if you still think that being apart of the X-Men isn't for the best, then you don't have to do it. Sound alright with you?"

What did I have to loose? I was pretty sure that I'd still be bad X-Men material even after training, but it was really the least I could do for her after everything she had done for me. "Alright, I guess that sounds okay," I said with a nod.

"Good," Ororo said with a sweet smile. "How about you two finish you're breakfast then, and then Kitty can give you a tour of the school. Classes were cancelled today because some of the teachers are out on a mission right now, so you have today and the weekend to settle in before you're classes start. I can talk to you later about your previous school academics, as well as your powers."

"Great! You can meet all my friends, then! I'm sure they'll all love you!" Kitty said as she hugged me from behind.

"Yeah, okay," I said as I gave her a smile.

Ororo gave me one last smile, and then got off her stool and started to walk away. She stopped though, and turned around as she said, "You know, Evie, you don't have to hide the way you look. It's what you are, and what you are is definitely not something to be ashamed about." With that, she turned back around and walked out of the kitchen.

I gave a small smile as I once again took my hood off.


End file.
